It sounded outrageous -- a public school teacher requiring a young student
to curse as part of a class assignment, and later ordering her to erase
"WWJD?" ("What Would Jesus Do?") from a class blackboard,
all in direct violation of religious rights. Some Christian groups and
web sites promptly reported the story, especially when the Rutherford Institute
-- a "religious liberty" advocacy organization -- denounced the
incident, and mulled possible legal action. The Virginia-based organization
announced that it was representing the student and her parents, and demanded
that school officials give a written reprimand to both the offending teacher
and the principal, and distribute copies to other school personnel.

The youngster's mother originally told local news media that the incident
"boggles my mind," adding, "I'm sure a child would be disciplined
any other time for cussing at school."

For some, it was simply more disturbing confirmation that religious
beliefs and believers are "under attack" in schools, communities
and other institutions. Accounts like this -- "Christian horror stories"
-- are often reported by religious web sites, newsletters, and radio or
television programs like the "700 Club." This incident reached
some religious media, and the Rutherford Institute quickly "went public"
with the story.

There is one problem though. The story turned out to be a hoax.

Should the Institute, and media, have checked out the claims?

It all began in Pleasant Hill, North Carolina, when sixth-grade student Hanna Darnell
claimed that she had been sent to the principal's office and threatened
with suspension after she refused to recite the word "damn" during
a literacy exercise because of her religious beliefs. The students were
reportedly reading aloud from a book, "Number the Stars," which
discusses the Holocaust. Hanna told her parents that she refused on three
occasions to recite the word, and was then sent by her teacher to see the
principal. The youngster also claimed that a week after the cursing incident,
she was scrawling "WWJD" on the blackboard with several representations
of Christian crosses as part of a "feature one child" program,
which encourages students to write about themselves. The teacher ordered
her to erase her messages.

The alleged incident took place in October; and the Rutherford Institute
quickly become involved. Steve Aden, litigation counsel for the Institute,
told the Elkin Tribune newspaper the school had violated Darnell's rights.

"This girl is as good as a little girl gets," Aden declared.
"She was obviously troubled over either swearing against her will
or being suspended as rebellious."

"It seems there's a disrespect for Hanna's sincerely felt religious
belief that's unwarranted by the separation of church and state,"
he added.

The Tribune noted: "Aden feels the Rutherford Institute has enough
verification to take legal action if necessary."

Closer to home, though, there was some skepticism. Words of caution
came from a local pastor, Nelson Granade, who defended the elementary school's
principal, Vickie Hugger. Hugger had allegedly threatened the youngster
with in-school suspension if she did not return to class and recite the
offending passages which included the word "damn" from the book.

"I know Mrs. Hugger to be a loving Christian person," said
Rev. Granade, "who is an active member of the First Baptist Church...
Mrs. Hugger is the kind of light we need in our schools."

More questions arose several days later, when the Tribune reported that
other students were not verifying the accusations made by Hanna Darnell.
A school attorney said that the charges against the principal and teacher,
Carolyn Settle, were unfounded. Parents were described as "amazed"
by the scope of the accusations. At this point, even the Rutherford Institute
was beginning to have second thoughts.

A legal coordinator for the organization, Ron Rissler, revealed that
he had only spoken to Hanna and her mother. The Tribune noted that he "isn't
concerned whether the accusation is true or not."

"Hanna has nothing to lose," said Rissler. "Some other
parties may though. If we find it faceless we'll handle the situation appropriately."

By now, though, the story was being reported by groups like Christian
World Ministries, which operates a daily news service. The alleged incident
in North Carolina was carried in a dispatch saying that the sixth-grader
"was punished for refusing to curse in class," and had been ordered
to remove the "WWJD" remarks from the class black board.

The Tribune revealed another salient fact of the case: the girl's mother,
who still believed her child's account, did not bother to check with school
officials but instead contacted the Rutherford Institute.

"I know my child has the right to speak about Christ," Mrs.
Darnell declared. "I like to have my ducks in a row when I go to talk
about something like that." Rutherford's Ron Rissler said that the
Darnells were advised to not contact school officials "because of
the nature of the accusation."

Rutherford Institute issued a press release about the charges on November
16, claiming that the teacher and principal had violated Hanna Darnell's
constitutional rights. At this point, the group demanded that the school
issue a formal written apology and circulate it throughout the school system.
Principal Hugger, though, vehemently denied that the incident occurred,
and informed the Tribune, "I'm telling you straight out -- it never
happened."

"I have never disciplined the child and she was never in my office,"
said Hugger. An assistant principal said that the Darnell youngster was
never in his office either, and that students had been reading passages
from the "Number the Stars" book since 1990. She noted that the
book is on a list of approved resources issued by the State Department
of Education.

On November 24, the story took another twist. The Tribune headlined,
"Girl admits teacher didn't make her cuss," and reported that
Hanna had informed her parents that she was never forced to read the offending
words in school.

"Joyce Darnell and her husband had sat down with Hanna and told
her the allegations weren't holding up...," noted Tribune reporter
Mark Gray. "Hanna finally came out and said it was a lie, the mother
said."

The sixth-grader stood by her claim that she had been forced to erase
"WWJD" from the blackboard, but Ms. Darnell reported "she
is not going to pursue the matter any further."

She says that did happen," Joyce Darnell said, referring to the
alleged "WWJD" incident. "But it may come out later on that
she lied about that also."

A Rutherford Institute press release dated November 24 declared that
the group "expresses regret after fraud is disclosed."

"The Rutherford Institute was contacted on November 8, 1999 by
the mother of a sixth grader at C. B. Eller Elementary School alleging
that her daughter's civil liberties had been violated," said the press
broadside. "After Rutherford Institute legal staff spoke directly
with the sixth grader and her mother, they followed standard procedures
in such cases by contacting school administrators, explaining the student's
constitutional rights and tendering a formal demand that the violation
be corrected. However, after extensive investigation by attorneys for the
school and The Rutherford Institute, and continued questioning of the twleve-year-old,
the student confessed to having lied..."

The release adds that the Rutherford Institute was "deceived and
misled."

Questions remain, though, about the sequence of events, and whether
Rutherford contacted officials to verify the youngster's accusations before
taking the story public. In the November 19 issue of the Tribune, School
District Superintendent Joe Johnson denied that the incident occurred,
and added that the school had received a "complaint" from the
Rutherford Institute "on Monday," November 15 -- less than a
week after the alleged violations. In addition, the parents had not attempted
to verify the accusations -- again, according to the Tribune, on the advice
of the Rutherford Institute.

Principal Vicky Hugger told the paper that the Darnells and the Institute
should have first spoken with all of the parties involved and not tried
the case in the news media. She and teacher Carolyn Settle added that while
they will not take steps against the student's family, they are mulling
possible legal action against the Rutherford Institute.

School attorney Fred Johnson told the Tribune that he is drafting a
letter to the religious rights group which will ask for a formal apology.

The incident raises concerns not only about claims of widespread "persecution"
of Christian students in the nation's public school system, but also about what factors
may be behind prompting a student to fabricate charges in this particular
area. Are religious parents becoming hypersensitive, possibly encouraging
their youngsters to seek out alleged violations of their religious rights
while in school? Are advocacy groups, parents, and Christian organizations,
which often publicize cases involving alleged violations of the rights
of religious students, doing all they can -- and should do -- to verify
such claims?

At least in one case, serious questions remain. Truth, and the reputations
of students, teachers and others -- not "religious rights" --
may be the real victims.